International Climate Action Day events in the works across Chicago area

October 23, 2009|By Victoria Pierce, SPECIAL TO THE TRIBUNE

From Worth to Wheaton and around the world on Saturday thousands of rallies, green fairs and exhibits will focus attention on the need for action to reduce emissions contributing to global warming.

The International Climate Action Day is spearheaded by 350.org, an environment- al organization started by American author Bill McKibben, who has written several books on global environmental and economic issues.

McKibben spoke at Wheaton College in the spring and inspired students and faculty to organize several events throughout the day on Saturday, said Greg Halvorsen Schreck, an associate professor of art.

Activities will include creating a large painting by pushing leftover gallons of red paint across a canvas by leaf blowers. The gas-powered leaf blowers will represent fossil fuels and the paint natural resources, Schreck said. The painting will then be displayed on campus in a joint exhibit with North Park University.

The college's environmental group, A Rocha, will also conduct a garbage audit in the dormitories to highlight how much trash students are throwing out that could be reused or recycled, as well as items that should not end up in a landfill such as batteries.

Although some conservatives have been slow to acknowledge the reality of global warming, Schreck said students and administrators at Wheaton, an evangelical Christian college, have embraced the call to action.

The college's cafeteria serves mostly organic food grown as locally as possible, and the school is seeking LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification for all of its new buildings. The new science building will be platinum LEED certified, Schreck noted.

Although some argue that talk of global warming is a push for socialist policies, the Wheaton's students "don't see that as an issue at all," he said.

Schreck also proposed ringing the school's bell 350 times.

The number 350 is being highlighted because scientists have determined that carbon emissions into the atmosphere must be lowered to 350 parts per million to sustain the environment. The atmosphere is now at 387 parts per million, according to 350.org.

"It's an important number that we need to get to," said Carson Cornelius, a member of Oak Park River and Forest High School's environmental club, which is organizing a Saturday afternoon march to support the international climate action day.

Cornelius said organizers are hoping residents from throughout the area suburbs will participate. The march will kick off from the Oak Park and River Forest High School stadium at noon and head south on Oak Park Avenue. The event will end with a rally in the parking lot behind the Fifth Third Bank just north of the Eisenhower Expressway.

Cornelius said he hopes the march gets people thinking about ways they can reduce their own impact on the environment.

But he also said the events planned around the world on Saturday are meant to get the attention of the dignitaries who will be heading to Copenhagen in December to hammer out an agreement to replace the 12-year-old Kyoto Protocol, which attempted to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.

The United States, which has higher outputs of greenhouse gases per capita than any other nation, did not sign on to the Kyoto Protocol. U.S. opposition had focused on the fact that in the agreement developing nations, including China, were not required to meet the standards established in the treaty.

President Barack Obama has pledged to make tackling global warming a top priority of his administration. But some now fear that the debate over health care reform may take all the administration's attention at the expense of the environment at a critical time leading up to the talks in Copenhagen, Schreck said.

In Chicago several events are planned by various groups starting with the Go Go Green 5K race kicking off from Diversey Harbor at 9 a.m. And at 12:20 p.m. hundreds of architects, engineers, builders and other industry professionals will gather in the plaza of the Merchandise Mart to create a human 350.

Other activities planned throughout the suburbs include an effort to have McHenry County residents hop on their bikes at home and hit the trails. The goal is to bike 350 miles collectively creating as small a carbon output as possible. Registration for the ride is online a www.mcdef.org. In Elgin, 350 trees will be given away at 9:30 a.m. at the Gail Borden Public Library at 270 N. Grove Ave.

The United Methodist Church of Worth will hold a block party from 1 to 4 p.m. in front of the church at 112th and Depot streets. The focus will be on the environment with talks on bike safety, gardening, recycling and more. The party will end with the ringing of the church bell 350 times at 3:50 p.m.

Several other events in the area are planned. A full listing is available at 350.org.